We live in a rural area. Our kids had cars to use while they were in HS. To be honest, it saved us parents a TON of driving around.
One went to college in a city with fabulous public transportation. The other went to college across the country. Neither had cars in undergrad school.
But we gave both cars for use in grad school. Child one needed a car for jobs off campus…and had a lot of them. Child two goes to grad school where public transportation just isnt a happening.
Situations vary.
So for Senior year, D has been using my old car (I leased a new one). It has saved me a ton of driving around as well. However, for college, she’ll be in a city, no need for a car. Q is, now what should I do with the old car? Should I save it for her use for Christmas break? It’s just going to be sitting in my driveway for a few months at a time…
If the car is fully paid for and in good shape, I’d keep it. Without a daily driver, you can get a break on the insurance and the car won’t be piling up miles. So it should be in good shape for Christmas, summers, grad school, whatever.
I drove the extra kid car a day or two a week during the school year just so it got some regular use (which meant those miles were not being put on my primary car).
Younger d had a car her senior year primarily because her theater rehearsals often ended at midnight and it was a long walk to her off-campus apartment plus waiting outside for a friend to pick her up or for a cab in the cold winter months wasn’t going to be a fun experience. She did have to park on campus on days when she could not get home to her apartment to get the car and so she did have parking challenges along with a few tickets that she had to cover.
Older d had a car following her senior year when she stayed for what is known as a post-bac progam in her field to prepare her portfolio for grad school admission. She lived in Somerville and commuted to Brandeis. She also had on-campus job at the Rose Art Museum and relying on public transportation to get there in time on the weekends would have been challenging.
Before they had cars they relied on public transportation, cabs or at Brandeis the BranVan for transport into Cambridge on the weekend. This was pre-Uber of course and zipcar was relatively new and limited.
I recall that when I was in college parking was so far from campus and my roommate had a car junior year. We all took turns hiking down to the frozen tundra where the college parking was and starting the car.
Freshman year when cars were’t allowed and there wasn’t really UBER she felt constrained. Used buses for class but mostly stayed on campus. Now as a senior she has a car and as student government executive she gets amazing parking right on campus. She still uses UBER though when she goes out. We have told her we are more than happy to pay for her doing so when she is going out and drinking.
The old car our S was driving senior year stayed behind and I drive it for local errands to keep the battery fresh. Told the insurance company that our S was away at college and they actually had a “away at school” status that dramatically reduced the insurance rate, even though it had previously been estimates for the lowest possible mileage range. Saved us almost $1,000/year – and that was despite him having a perfect record and good student discount. And he still gets to drive any of our cars insured when he’s around for breaks and summer.
Both my kids had their own cars when they got their license at 16.5 I matched what they saved to buy the car and their father paid for the insurance. #1 has been launched for several years now but D (#2) didn’t take her car freshman year and instead relied on public transportation. Getting around town wasn’t an issue and there was a college shuttle that did the loop around town, to the cinema, to the mall. But…getting back and forth the 250 miles each way turned into a nightmare. As a sophomore now, she has her car at school. Not sure she is thrilled with it though…she is the DD many nights, no one offers her gas $$ (I’ve told her to ask) and every time it snows she has to go out, clear it off, and move it several lots away very early morning LOL. So, its working for me but not so much for her.
She’ll be living in an apartment next year and will be the only one with a car out of 4 girls. She is definately going to be the one who drives for groceries and other apartment needs…
I know that must have been a slang choice of words, but how does a kid “burn” their parents for any decision. I agree with most that her failure to plan is not your issue. Did other kids need the binding also? Must have if they are in her class. How did the other kids get theirs done? If they had cars, maybe she should have hitched a ride with one of them. I don’t know. I have never allowed my kid to guilt or blackmail me in doing something I clearly felt was not in their best interest. Hope you don’t back down.
Our daughter has not had her car on campus for her first two years. When she started, parking was such a problem that freshmen were not allowed to have a car. The parking situation got worse, not better, so they extended that to sophomores as well. It hasn’t been an issue, as there are buses to go most places day and night, and there is a Target and a CVS within walking distance. If she wants to go into the city, she takes the bus to the nearby Metro station. But one day, as a freshman, she needed some materials for a special project and could only get them at a store several miles away in a sketchy part of town. Her fearless nature took over and she announced to me that it wasn’t a problem, she would walk there. Her university is a half an hour from my office (an hour from home with no traffic), so I told her to sit tight, I would take an extended lunch break and be right there, she was NOT going to walk over there alone. When she starts her junior year, she will move to an off-campus house, get off of the meal plan and will have her car. She will not have a campus parking pass as she will still get around there on foot and by bus. The one thing not within walking distance is a good grocery store and it’s hard to carry groceries on the campus bus, so having her own transportation will be a big help. Also, as a graphic arts major, occasional trips to one of two art supply stores will be necessary. And she has learned the difference between being self-reliant and being reckless.
My idea of a good campus is one where students rarely feel the need to go very far off campus, even for apartments. Parking on campus and for nearby apartments was/is very expensive for son’s U. Creates a no car culture as opposed to one where many leave the campus area often.
At DD’s schools, they have lots just to park cars for the semester (very low price for parking sticker) as many kids travel hundreds of miles but really only need a car for that long trip a few times a year, not a car for running around at school.